Nutrition and Cancer

A very nice class. Well organized and taught by researchers from a great institute. Still, I think, the name is misleading. There is not much direct information about nutrition and cancer, as the title suggests! There is a lot of information about research and methods to study. So, it is really a nice class to learn about various ways to conduct research, evaluate the authenticity of research, and how the research is reported in news. If one is looking for a class that covers what the title suggests, there are many classes on other MOOCs, like Future Learn. Fees are high on edX if one needs to audit the class at their own pace (audit access is given only for a limited time). Audit access is free for a limited time only. I needed more time to explore, as I was doing some more interesting classes on other MOOCs on a similar topic, so I actually paid the fees, and well, since I had paid the fees, I completed the class! Still, I would recommend you explore this class in the audit mode and then decide if you want to keep this class on your dashboard --- then can pay for the certificate and upgrade your audit access.

I am sure, those interested in research in the field would love the class. I loved the class, still, if the audit access was not for a limited time, I would have only audited this class! There is no unlimited subscription on the edX platform, so, one can not audit multiple classes at the same time to learn at their own pace, so, be careful, if you are auditing this class and love it, you may choose to pay for the certificate! This will guarantee the class material on your dashboard for future reference.

I took this class as a cancer patient, who wanted to learn to be better informed to take care of my health through lifestyle changes! I am a lifelong learner, so, I apply my learning to upgrade my healthspan, live happy, and healthy. Happy learning and living!

As much as I aprreciate the efforts of the people involved in making the course, unfortunately I found it’s content extremely light on information. In my opinion, this course barely scratched the surface of the topic of nutrition and cancer.

Of 5 modules, only 3 discuss nutrition and cancer. The first module is entirely about research methods and forms a great chunk of the course. I appreciate the importance of everyone understanding which info can be obtained from different research methods and the often misunderstood difference between correlation and causation. This allows people to judge the value of a scientific claim for themselves. However, this chapter was very exhaustive and in stark contrast to the lack of depth of the chapters actually discussing cancer and nutrition.

I would have expected an introductory chapter to, at the minimum, explain the biological mechanisms of the development and progression of cancer, and the differences between cancers. This was not the case, and in fact, the course hardly contains any detailed explanations of biological or biochemical mechanisms. Nor does it contain much data, statistics or numbers, that would give a good overview of the topic, for example.

Further, I found it frustrating that a course so light on in-depth information, encourages students to do their own further research: doing this course IS my own further research into the topic (or so I had hoped). Unfortunately, I learned very little from this course.

Nutrition and cancer is a general course. It creates awareness about the importance and difficulties of nutrition in the process of cancer formation and treatment. The interaction of nutrition with genetic and epigenetic factors in cancer patients is summarized. It is explained that most of the information sources about cancer and nutrition are not reliable enough. It has been emphasized that a guideline on cancer and nutrition has not yet been made available to every patient. It is also almost impossible to create a standard nutritional guide for cancer patients. This issue should be considered specifically for each patient... No specific recommendations for cancer patients were made throughout this course. It is not mentioned that some nutrients can contribute directly to the treatment. Phytotherapy support has not been addressed. This is a useful course. However, it does not satisfy the expectations for contribution to treatment.

A fantastic course! High-quality scientific content is prepared in such a way that it can be understood from an interdisciplinary perspective, and as a non native speaker!
It describes many sides and relations from personal experience to scientific content to the affected person and the carer.
It is about people and their lives, whether they are affected by illness and/or act as professional helpers, it is not about numbers and objects.
The course really follows international standards and is helpful for people around the world, not only of a special country.
Recommendations are not rigid but down to earth and open for cultural preferences.
The way the lecturers treat each other in the videos and the way they address participants as equals, with respect and appreciation, is special! I am grateful to learn from these people.
It won't be my last course in Wageningen!

Suggestion: The possibility of extending the time, e.g. in the event of illness or work-related bottlenecks, would be helpful for self-paced learning

A highly insightful course for anyone to pursue. This great course introduces most aspects from prevention to survival, and even on press reporting. Of great help for anyone to access information and research interests would be the topics on types of cancers and the various methods of approach to intervention. There was information given on general knowledge of how cancer is managed, from lifestyle changes to diet and supplementation and even some touchpoints on epigenetics and great tips on guidelines for cancer survivors. Would highly recommend everyone to participate in this course, whether as an introduction or as a refresher for updates through the reference links provided.

I appreciate all the helpful and interesting information taught in this course. Learning official guidelines from world organizations has been enlightening. I look forward to feeling equipped and joining the community of people working to make a difference in public health.

Here are areas where I feel the course could be improved:

1) Give a sample quiz prior to the midterm to give verified learners an idea of the types of questions that will be asked. I found a few of the questions surprising for their seeming irrelevance to the goals stated for the course. Though I took copious notes on issues of public health during lectures, I did not record detailed information on some of the seeming minutia regarding minor points of study types, etc. Giving students an early quiz would help us to know where to focus our note taking.

2) Have a native English speaker who is proficient at English grammar review the test questions. I am a math and science teacher who sometimes edits scientific articles professionally, and I found at least two of the questions difficult to interpret due to outright grammatical errors or ambiguity.

3) Verified learners should evaluate the essays of other verified learners. After I submitted my essay at the end of Module 3, I received two other essays to evaluate. It seemed clear that both were written by students who were only auditing the class, since both were unusually short and did not address the points in the assignment rubrik. I have not received an evaluation for my essay yet, but I hope to glean helpful feedback from a student who is invested enough in the course to apply thoughtful consideration.

Overall, I am thankful that this course is available, and I appreciate all that I am learning.